LIVE BLOG: Jets at Capitals

The Winnipeg Jets are paying a visit to an old foe they’ve had trouble knocking off recently.

The Jets (28-25-5) will put a three-game winning streak on the line against the Washington Capitals (25-23-9), who have won the past five head-to-head meetings between former Southeast Division rivals on Thursday at the Verizon Center.

“It’s another game. We’ve played against them a lot the past few years. We know how they play. It’s a really good team,” said Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his past nine starts. “We have to play our game and I think we’re going to be fine.”

The Capitals defeated the Jets 5-4 in a shootout at MTS Centre on Oct. 22 in the only other meeting this season.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice saw the Capitals plenty during his days coaching in the Southeast Division, so he’s got a good idea of what to expect.

“They’ve got the high-end skill, some big size, some guys that can move around and they’re making a concerted effort to grow a solid defensive game and tighten that part up,” said Maurice, whose team is 9-2 since he took over. “In some ways, it’s going to be two teams that look a little bit alike. I would think that we’ll see a lot of physical contact tonight and a lot of speed.”

Considering their recent success, Maurice is watching for warning signs that his group may think they can just show up and win.

“You’re watching for a feeling that they expect to win the next game because they played well in the last game,” said Maurice. “That they start to forget about how hard they had to work. You’re always watching for that.”

Jets centre Mark Scheifele said there’s no worries about complacency slipping into their game right now.

“Obviously, you’re happy but once that game is over and done with, you look forward to the next game. That’s what we’re doing right now,” said Scheifele. “You just want to focus on each game that’s coming up and we want to continue to make that push for the playoffs.

“(The Capitals) are going to be a good test. We’ve been playing pretty good lately and we’ve got to continue with that process and continue with that attitude and we’ll be good.”

Jets captain Andrew Ladd skipped the morning skate again but Maurice said he was “100 per cent ready to go.”

Based on the morning skate, the Jets will ice the same lineup as they have the past four games, meaning Zach Redmond and Eric O’Dell will be the healthy scratches.

Michal Neuvirth will make a fourth consecutive start for the Capitals, who are coming off a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders and have slipped to seventh place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

With Mike Green out of the lineup with a concussion, the Capitals recalled two defencemen from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League on Thursday morning and both Patrick Wey and Julian Brouillette will be in the lineup against the Jets.

The Capitals are also without centre Mikhail Grabovski (ankle), who has 12 goasl and 33 points in 49 games this season.